#hashtag failed

“Gah, I’m late again!” She shouted, jumping out of bed so high that she nearly hit the ceiling. Her phone was left tumbling from her lofted bed, landing with a loud crash against the wooden floors. That would certainly leave a crack or two.

But a problem for later! 

Rushing down the steps, Marinette nearly tripped over her blankets that were still wrapped around her waist. She twisted out of them, stumbling gracelessly onto the floor. 

Her mom called out from below with concern. “Marinette, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, all good, Mom, nothing to worry abou– oof!” As she was getting up, she tripped and fell over the fabric pieces strewn about her room from her night of sewing. Marinette groaned, pushing herself up by the arms and taking a deep breath. Enough with the nonsense.She hopped to her feet, walking—carefully this time—to the chest filled with her clothes. She rummaged through the messy collection, looking for something suitable for the day.

“Aha!” 

With unprecedented haste, she pulled on a white camisole, a light pink cardigan, black embroidered tights, and a black skirt with some customized, pink and white embellishments of her own doing. She quickly tied her hair with ribbons into her signature two pigtails.

Marinette retrieved her phone from where it fell. To no one’s surprise, it was brandished with a new, shiny crack, flowing jaggedly from the upper left side of the screen and curving into the upper middle. Yikes. She winced. She’d just have to pay for it by taking up hemming commissions from her friends… again.

She clicked the power button, and her lock screen—a selfie of her and Alya at André Glacier’s on a sunny day—illuminated the screen. At least it wasn’t totally broken… 

The time caught her attention: 7:50. 

Her heart sank.

Marinette yanked on her messy pigtails in a mini panic before rushing to pack her things in her school bag and quickly slip on her favorite ballet flats.

She ran faster than she’d ever run before, skipping every two, maybe three steps as she hurried down the stairs of her home and entered the bakery. She sped past her parents and the line of customers they already had forming at the counter. 

“Bye Papa, bye Maman, I’mofftoschool, seeyoulaterbisouuuuus!!!”

The bakery door chimed loudly as it slammed shut behind her. 

ooO

Marinette sprinted down the sidewalk, occasionally bumping into passersby and earning some very unforgiving complaints in response. Once she reached the street that led directly to her school, she sighed with relief, ready to prance across the sidewalk and up the steps, and into her seat on time!!!

Just as she was about to make this fantasy her reality, a car zoomed across the crosswalk. Followed by another. And many more. 

Much to her chagrin, the wait signal was plastered on the streetlight ahead of her.

“Seriously!?” She huffed, tapping her foot impatiently. 

She watched as the cars flew past her, contemplating the risk factor of crossing the street there and now. If she timed it right, she was sure she could avoid getting hit. Yeah, it’d be jaywalking, which was kind of illegal, and yeah, she might receive some angry honks and less-than-savory hand gestures, but at least she’d make it to class on time. She had a quiz she was really worried about during first period—she couldn’t afford to be late.

She began jogging in place, her adrenaline needing some sort of escape, lest she explode right there on the sidewalk. Her eyes nervously stalked each car that went past, and they occasionally flicked towards the wait signal as the seconds ticked down. Twenty seconds is such a long time! She could’ve clawed her face off. It was then that she heard a strange sound. It was so quiet against the loud traffic that she nearly missed it. 

“What?” She looked around. There was no one else on that side of the street with her. In fact, that part of the sidewalk was remarkably empty. “I must be imagining things. I really need to sleep more.” Oh man, if she were really in such a state of delusion, she was bound to fail her quiz for sure! She buried her head in her hands.

And that’s when she heard it again—only, more clearly this time.

“Miaou!”

“Meow?” She retorted, her voice unbelieving. She jumped when she felt something small, soft, and warm nuzzling her ankles.

“Miaou!!!”

When she looked down at her feet, eyes wide, a small black cat was beaming up at her. 

“Aaaah!” She exclaimed, crouching down immediately to get a closer look at it.

“Oh, you’re so cute!!!” 

“Miaou~!!” 

She stuck out her hand for it to smell, and the cat tilted its head in response before licking her gently. She squealed again in response, trying to hold back her cuteness aggression so as not to scare it away.

“What’s your name? Are you a stray…?” She asked, taking a hesitant hand under its chin to feel for a collar. Nothing was there.

The cat looked relatively well-groomed. It didn’t smell of anything strong, and it was totally disarmed around her, meaning it must be comfortable with humans at least. It seemed well-fed, and clearly wasn’t a kitten either. All this and yet, it didn't have a collar. How strange.

“Are you lost?” Marinette suddenly grew very sorry. It must have been lost by its owner recently. Maybe even this morning. Or maybe they were actually close by? She looked around again and didn’t see anyone. But she hadn’t noticed any missing cat flyers as she walked. What a peculiar case. Perhaps it was better if she left it there so the owner could quickly find it. It was usually a fairly populated area. Surely the right would notice it straight away.

She bit her lip in apprehension, feeling guilty for leaving the little guy there. She turned around to peek at the light. The walk sign was illuminated this time. 

Torn, she turned back to the cat, its tail swinging happily as it purred, rubbing its small head against Marinette’s hand. She frowned, giving it one last pat on the head.

“I’m so, so sorry, little kitty, but I’m already terribly late… I really hope your owner finds you soon.” With that, she turned away and crossed the street quickly, never once turning around, because she knew if she did, her guilt would overcome her, and she’d swoop that cat into her arms and bring it to class with her.  

On top of being late, her teacher would not like that.

ooO

Man, she totally bombed that quiz. 

Marinette left the classroom (after being swiftly reprimanded a second time by her teacher for being late), completely dejected. Her lips were pulled into a pout, and she wandered the hall aimlessly, in some vague, general direction to her next class.

When she sat down on the bench next to Alya, she slammed her head into the desk. The dull boom it produced drew Alya to give her a sympathetic pat on the back.

“There, there, girl.” 

This pulled a groan from Marinette.

“Dang, what’s got you so down like this already? It’s still so early in the morning.” Alya gasped. “Oh, is this because Adrien’s not here today?”

“No, it’s because I super duper failed my math quiz just– Wait, did you say Adrien’s not here?”

Marinette shot up from her place on the desk, eyes fastening to her best friend’s.

“Yeah, and none of us have heard from him, so we’re super worried.” Alya’s voice lowered, and she leaned closer to Marinette, as if it were a secret she was sharing. Something she didn’t want to alert the entire class to.

It was normal for Adrien to miss school a little here and there. What with his hundreds of modeling events, photoshoots, traveling the world, fencing tournaments, interviews, etcetera, etcetera. But usually he’d tell them about it. Either ahead of time, or while it was going on. Adrien was no hooky player, no ghoster, no flaker.

And given Marinette’s massive… interest in Adrien as a friend, she would definitely know if he was busy somewhere doing Adrien Agreste-y things. It’s not like she kept tabs on his every move, knew when he would be traveling for a modeling thing or fashion event or—ok, well, yeah, she definitely did that, but it was all to make sure he was ok, of course. As a friend. Who cared about him. Obviously.

But that was besides the point! Marinette pulled out her phone to check the Adrien Agreste news tag she followed on social media, and nothing new was coming up! He shouldn’t have had anything coming up for a while. All four of them were supposed to be hanging out this weekend since it was the one weekend he was free that month… Marinette frowned, bouncing her leg anxiously.

When Nino walked into the room, she’d hardly noticed him. She heard Alya greet him, and they began talking in hushed tones, but she didn’t pay attention enough to figure out what they were saying. She just kept refreshing her phone. Still nothing.

“Adrien’s…” Her ear perked up upon hearing Nino utter his name.

“Huh, Adrien’s what?!” Marinette shouted, slapping her palms against the surface of the desk, which she really didn’t intend to do. Not so loudly, at least. It earned some glances from their classmates, and Alya and Nino stared at each other awkwardly.

“Sorry,” Marinette said, at a more respectable volume. They all waited until their classmates averted their eyes, quickly losing interest in the situation, before they continued speaking. 

Alya turned to her, voice a mere whisper. “Marinette, Adrien’s missing.”

“Missing?!” Marinette really couldn’t help the way she shouted this time. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late by then. Their classmates eyed the three of them nosily.

“We should talk about this during lunch.” Nino adjusted his baseball cap nervously, turning around in his seat to face the front.

“But I can’t wai–!” Marinette tried to protest, but just then their teacher walked into the room, clapping her hands to grab their attention. 

“Good morning, students! Please open your notebooks and put away your phones. We’re having an open note pop quiz.”

You’ve got to be kidding me. Marinette gaped. Just her luck! The tension building inside her from this chaos of a morning threatened to burst. First, she was late, then there was a horrible quiz, then Adrien’s missing??? then another quiz? What was going on? How were her fates so misaligned!?

She took a deep breath and held it. Willing all of her upset to stay inside. She just needed to get through this class. And then a couple more. Then she’d have all the answers from Nino.

Besides, maybe he didn’t mean it like that. Yeah! Typical Marinette jumping to conclusions. She was infamous for her needless worrying after all. She convinced herself this was just another instance of that. Adrien was probably perfectly fine! Nino just meant that he was missing from school, obviously. Or that he was “missing”, as in, “off the grid” because his dad confiscated his phone.

Marinette scoffed out loud, trying to lighten her own mood. Alya punched her gently in the shoulder, as if to tell her to stop.

And she did stop. She fixed her posture and, with sweaty hands, retrieved her notes from her bag. 

She was going to fix her day here and now, starting with this pop quiz—which she was going to ace.

ooO

So, that’s not what happened at all. Marinette’s not even sure how she did on the quiz because her mind wouldn’t stop returning to Adrien. She even wrote his name as one of the answers before catching herself and scribbling it out. 

Once the three friends left their class period for lunch, Marinette ran at Nino and practically pounced on him. 

“I need answers!” She begged, shaking him by the arms.

Nino’s shoulders slumped, and he looked away. Alya soon joined them, and he gave her a nod. “I’ll tell you everything I’ve heard. Follow me.”

The three of them walked to the park together, deciding to eat lunch there not only because it was a beautiful and sunny day, but also because they didn’t want their other friends overhearing them in the cafeteria. Not that the others didn’t deserve to know what was going on, but they didn’t want to turn this into a huge panic. Especially when there was nothing anyone could really do about it at the moment.

Nino sat on one side of the picnic table alone, with Alya and Marinette sitting together across from him. The vacant spot next to him was clearly meant for Adrien. Marinette’s heart raced in her chest.

“Tell me already.” She spoke, neglecting her lunch inside her bag. 

Nino sighed, looking anywhere but her eyes, scanning the empty park for nothing in particular.

“Look, I’m not even 100% sure this is true because it’s not like I got it from any verified source, I’m just… speculating.” He took a tense sip of his water before continuing.

“I think Adrien’s missing. Like missing, missing.”

“How do you know?” Marinette interrupted, growing increasingly uneasy, if that was even possible at this point.

“Last Friday evening, I facetimed him, and he didn’t pick up. He promised we could call for like an hour before his lesson, and I assumed he didn’t answer because of somethin with his pops—not totally out of the ordinary.” Nino shrugged.

“But then I texted him. Once to ask what was up, then again a few hours later to send him a meme. It’s normal that he doesn’t respond for a few hours because the guy’s always so damn busy, but I started to feel a little worried when it got to noon the next day, and he hadn’t even read the message.”

Marinette tapped her nails impatiently against the wooden picnic table. She listened as Nino described Adrien being completely AWOL. Nino told the story of how he went to the Agreste mansion on Sunday, something he didn’t do unless Adrien gave him the greenlight that his father wasn’t there, because he usually wasn’t welcomed by Mr. Agreste.

“Nathalie, y’know, Gabe’s assistant, answered the buzz. She seemed a lot more… full of emotion than she usually is, which was a bad sign enough. She saw it was me and said that ‘Adrien was very busy’. In the back, I swear I heard Mr. Agreste freaking out. Like, probably on the phone, saying something about Adrien. It was totally insane.”

Marinette felt lightheaded. And suddenly very much not in the mood for lunch. “So he’s really… gone.”

“It… seems that way.” Nino balled his hands into fists, tension bleeding into his voice. “And I’m not sure what to do.”

“Well, obviously we need to go out and look for him!”

“But no one’s seen him,” Alya interjected into the conversation. “I tried investigating the subject online during class and haven’t found anything. It’s like no one even knows he’s missing.”

“But he’s a huge supermodel, someone’s had to have seen him somewhere!” Marinette dug her fingernails into the skin of her arms, practically shaking in her overwhelm.

“That’s why I don’t totally believe he’s in danger. I think it has something to do with his dad.” Alya leaned against the table, narrowing her eyes.

“So, what, are we supposed to prance up to the Agreste mansion and ask why Adrien isn’t answering our texts or coming to school? Mr. Agreste hates our guts.”

“Well, it’d be a good start. What else are we supposed to do?”

As Alya and Nino argued about what the proper next steps to take were, Marinette stood silently and backed away from the table. It was all too much—suddenly way too real. If Adrien was really missing… Oh, God. She felt like she needed to cry, to scream, to demand that Gabriel Agreste reassure her that her friend was ok. She backed away from the table quietly, trying not to catch her friends’ attention.

But of course they noticed. There were only three of them at the table. Alya turned to watch as Marinette slowly retreated. 

“Mari?” It made her pause in her step. “Where are you going?”

“I–uh…” She held the sleeve of her cardigan tightly in her fist. “I need to be alone, I think. Don’t wait up for me, I think I’m gonna go home.” She didn't wait for a response before turning and marching off.

Marinette was lucky her house was right next to Place des Vosges. She crossed the street and entered the bakery in no time. Her parents eyed her curiously as she speed-walked, but before they could ask anything, she waved them off.

“Don’t mind me, class was canceled because my teacher is sick.” She lied. “I’m going to take a nap in my room.” She shut the door abruptly behind her before they could respond.

Marinette slammed into her sheets face-first, not even bothering to change into her pajamas before succumbing to the soft warmth. She felt tears brimming in her eyes and aggressively blinked them away.

She couldn’t believe it—Adrien was really missing? Like genuinely? She’d heard proof enough to convince her. She could really scream.  

ooO 

When she woke up, it was significantly darker outside. She assumed it was because the sun was setting, surprised to see she’d slept so long, but upon peaking her head through her trap door, she realized the sky was just very overcast. It was striking how different it appeared from the sky just a couple of hours ago. The clouds were so dark and angry, she supposed they’d be spilling liters anytime now.  

Still, this didn’t keep her from climbing up to her balcony. She rested against the railing, peering over at the park, seeing that Alya and Nino had since been gone. She sighed, feeling bad for leaving them behind, but feeling even worse upon remembering the status of Adrien.

“Ohh…” She buried her face in her hands, almost ready to give in to the force of her sadness.

“Miaou!” 

She heard the noise beside her. Chalking it up to an exhausted auditory hallucination, she refrained from reacting.

“Mrrow, mrrep!”

She heard it repeated again, daring to peek from behind her finger out of the corner of her eye. The sight she was met with had her barrelling backwards.

“How did you–!?” She stammered in surprise, tripping over her own two feet and landing onto the folding chair on her balcony.

“Miaou!”

The cat was perched atop the railing of her balcony, gazing down at her with curiosity, its head tilting from side to side. It eventually jumped gracefully down from its spot, prancing over to Marinette excitedly. 

“Miaou~!”

“Listen,” Marinette started, scrambling backwards and away from the feline before her. “I have no idea how you got up here, or… why you followed me here, but you can’t stay.”

“Miaou, miaou!”

Marinette facepalmed when it curled up against her ankle, nuzzling and purring.

“Truly, what is my life?” She sighed, folding her legs and backing away further. “I’m being serious, you have to go!”

“Mrrrep!” 

“No, like go away.”

“Mrrow?” 

“Yes, now!” Marinette raised her arms above her head in exasperation. “I can’t keep you here, my parents would freak.”

“Mow….”

Marinette picked up the cat carefully, tucking it into her cardigan and tiptoeing back into her room. She began making her way down the steps of her house when she realized her parents were in the living room watching TV. She ducked behind the thin railings of the staircase, evidently still quite visible, watching them from behind. They laughed at something some comedian was saying—she wasn’t sure exactly, but took it as her sign they were distracted enough for her to sneak past them.

When she was halfway across the room, two steps until she’d reach the door, that stupid cat decided it was the perfect time to be noisy.

“Miaou, miaou!!!” It screeched, rolling around in her arms. Marinette completely froze.

“Marinette?” She heard her father say. She turned her head around slowly, careful to keep the cat in her arms facing away from them.

“Papa! Hello!” She said stiffly.

“Did you… say something?”

“Oh uh!” She laughed. A little too much. Like she’d just heard the funniest joke in the world. She felt the cat purring against her, and her heart raced even faster. She needed to get out of there before it did that again.

“Nothing important! I was just saying I was gonna go for a quick walk… now, now!” She laughed again nervously, trying to sound convincing enough. 

Her parents looked at each other, frowns plastered over their faces. 

“But Marinette,” Her mother chimed in. “It’s about to rain–”

“I know! That’s why I’m going to be super duper quick. Like, I’ll be back in no time!” She whipped open the door, stepping into the hallway robotically. “Faster than you can say… chat noir!” She slammed the door shut, zipping out of the house and into the bakery as fast as she viably could with a cat squirming in her hands.

“Chat noir…?” Her mother repeated. Tom shrugged in response. The two of them returned to facing the television.

Once Marinette was outside, she plopped the cat onto the concrete of the sidewalk, right outside the bakery door. “There we go, ok, please go find your owner now!”

As she turned around to go back inside, she felt a tugging at her tights. She looked down to see that the cat was trying to pull her backwards.

“Hey, don’t bite my clothes, you’ll rip them!” A loud rumble echoed through their ears, and the cat jumped back, hissing at the sky.

Marinette sighed, looking up at the sky too. The clouds dragged slowly above them, flashes of light from within them telling her that it would be coming down any second now. She couldn’t leave this poor cat out here at a time like this! Where even were its owners? It had been an entire school day, and no one had come to retrieve it? Granted, she didn’t know how much of that day it spent trying to climb up her balcony, but still!

She kneeled next to it, its fur still standing on end. She offers her hand, palm up, to it. “There, there,” The cat hesitated before nuzzling into her.

“Cats don't like water, do they…?” Marinette asked rhetorically. She sighed, eyes focused on the darkening sky. Her mind began to wander as she contemplated what to do. She couldn’t leave this poor little guy out here all alone in the rain, but… 

But what if it really was a stray? Then she really couldn’t leave it out here. How sad would that be?

It reminded her of Adrien. He must be alone and stranded somewhere as well, if he really was lost. Her eyes began to sting, and she couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer.

She laughed sadly, petting the cat with shaky hands. “Honestly, today has been so horrible! It’s really set a precedent, and that’s saying a lot coming from me. I’m like the biggest bad luck magnet.” She looked down at the creature at her side. “I even have this black cat following me now for some reason. What are the chances?”

She wiped away the tears she hadn’t even realized were falling down her cheeks, finally letting out a gasped sob. 

“Mrrow?” 

Marinette sniffled, turning her attention back to the cat. “I hope your day has been going better than mine… but given you seem lost, it probably hasn’t.” 

The cat purred beneath her gentle hand.

“My friend’s missing, you know? And I’m really, really worried about him.” To this, the cat raised its head, making a strange, sudden eye contact with her. It remained completely silent, as if listening.

She laughed. “It’s like you’re being quiet to offer me your pity now. Where was this when I was trying to sneak past my parents?”

She continued, “It’s really scary, though. I mean, I’ve only known about it for one day, but I can’t help but feel like my entire world is crashing before me. He’s really special to me.”

“Mow!” The cat shouted, and Marinette scratched behind its ears.

“Yeah… He probably feels really lost and scared like you.” She contemplated what to do next, staring at the cat blankly. She knew she had to keep it safe. At least, just for tonight. 

It stretched and sat down beside her. Marinette offered it a small smile. “I suppose now I’m feeling guilty for trying to cast you aside.” 

The cat blinked slowly at her, as if to reassure her it was ok, it understood.

Marinette sighed, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe she was talking to a stray cat. She could burst into a fit of laughter. But she was too sad to do that at the moment.

“Listen,” She grabbed the cat and raised it so they were eye-to-eye.

“If I agree to take you home for now, you have to promise to be good and quiet.”

“Miaou!”